noun
suicide
SOO-ih-syd
noun
1
The act of intentionally ending one's own life.
"The charity offers support to families affected by suicide."
"Doctors are trained to spot the warning signs of suicide."
2
Figuratively, an action so damaging that it destroys a person's career, reputation, or chances.
"Publicly insulting your biggest client is corporate suicide."
"Skipping the final exam would be academic suicide."
verb
1
To kill oneself.
"The novel's narrator suicides in the final chapter."
How to Use Suicide
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishIntentionally taking your own life — or, loosely, an action guaranteed to ruin you.
Common mistake
Style guides for news writing recommend saying someone "died by suicide" rather than "committed suicide," since "commit" implies a crime.
Common pairings
commit suicide
died by suicide
political suicide
suicide prevention
Word Forms
suicided past tense, suicides plural, suicides singular
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Etymology
First recorded in English in the 1600s, built from Latin sui ("of oneself") plus -cide ("killing"), on the model of words like homicide.